DISTANT BUT CLOSE TO FAMILIES

The health emergency that we are facing and that we will continue to face in the coming months, is increasingly becoming a social and economic emergency, in fact, more and more families are in need of help. This is why the Valter Baldaccini Foundation has decided to carry out a new social project "Distant but close to families", with the aim of giving concrete help to families in difficulty in the area.

Maria and Marco manage a small restaurant in one of the beautiful villages in our area. For almost two months the shutter has been lowered. A closure that weighs even more right now, that the spring sun warms us and the narrow streets of the village usually fill up with people walking and tourists taking short trips out of town. The restaurant, on which they invested all their savings, is their only source of income and after the first few weeks of being closed everything started to get complicated: even just shopping and getting food for the daily meal has become a problem.

Giovanna is the mother of little Elia. Before she was faced with the pandemic crisis, she made do with some odd and insecure jobs. She cleaned some houses and worked a few hours a week in an ironing room and in a bar. This is work that the rapid spread of Covid-19 has wiped out. Over time Giovanna has put aside some savings but little Elia is only six months old. He needs diapers homogenized milk and products suitable for children. Expensive goods, which Giovanna cannot afford.

For twelve years now Amed has lived in Italy. His wife Fatima and children Mohamed and Rahima, aged three and seven, remained in Morrocco. Just before the lockdown, they were awaiting the latest documents to complete the family reunification procedure. Amed has a small, independent business with a VAT number as a street vendor in the various country markets. This emergency stopped everything: the job, the bureaucratic process and realizing the dream of reuniting with his family after so many years. Amed is no longer able to pay the rent and is afraid of losing his home, an essential requirement in completing the procedures to reunite with his wife and his two small children.

The project

The stories of Maria, Marco, Giovanna and Amed are just some of those that the operators of Gubbio’s Diocesan Caritas have told us in these days. Nearly 300 people have turned to them for help in the past few weeks. These are vulnerable families, some were in need before the crisis, but there are many people who have suddenly found themselves in difficulty.

The intent of the project, distant but close to families, is to respond to the essential needs of families in difficulty in the area.

Every day Caritas operators, together with a tight network of associations, collect and listen to their needs, trying to respond quickly: basic necessities, payment of bills and rents, help for unexpected but necessary expenses. All this within #ChiesaProssima, a project to support families that the Diocese of Gubbio has activated since the first moments of the emergency.

A few weeks ago, on the occasion of Easter, we took a small step to support them, but Maria, Marco, Amed, Giovanna, Elia and many other people are increasingly in need of concrete help, which we can offer them only thanks to your help.

Donate now

• € 10 for food shopping: not only canned goods and long shelf life goods, but also eggs, meat, milk, fresh fruit and vegetables.
• € 25 for baby products: diapers, homogenized products and food suitable for children
• € 50 for house expenses: rent, utility bills, unexpected expenses such as a broken water heater and washing machine

Thanks for your help.
Everything will be fine, thanks to you.